[tinwhiskers] Re: Perfect opportunity for tin whiskers induced failures - Toyota did not install brake override systems despite complaints
- From: "Bob Landman" <rlandman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tinwhiskers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:37:55 -0500
And if you do turn it off, you end up locking the steering wheel!
You can, I think, still move the transmission to neutral.
Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Victor_G_Hernandez@xxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 3:31 PM
To: tinwhiskers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [tinwhiskers] Re: Perfect opportunity for tin whiskers induced
failures - Toyota did not install brake override systems despite complaints
The car has to be in neutral to turn off, Old days was OK., not now
Victor,
-----Original Message-----
From: tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Steve Smith
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 2:20 PM
To: Bob Landman
Subject: [tinwhiskers] Re: Perfect opportunity for tin whiskers induced
failures - Toyota did not install brake override systems despite complaints
Runaway cars are no fun; most people panic, and in a panic state intelligence
goes to zero; they forget that they can stop the thing by just turning the
ignition key to OFF.
Steve Smith
BL> Just as I predicted, the increased use of electronics in automobiles
BL> when mixed with RoHS can make for a deadly cocktail.
BL> We don't know (this article doesn't say) what the causative agent
BL> was, but I have heard recently of brand new autos showing up at
BL> dealers that will not start. That cause has been linked to tin whiskers.
BL> I cannot fathom how foolish the industry was to rush to adopt
BL> lead-free manufacturing without first solving the well known risks
BL> such as tin whiskers. When I read comments such as "SAC405 is known
BL> to suppress whisker growth" I have to laugh. There is so much
BL> misinformation being cast about, it's ludicrous.
BL> Toyoda better do as they've been advised if they are using lead-free
BL> manufacturing (and even if they are not as the parts are lead-free
BL> now so even IF you use SnPb solder you still will be subjected to
BL> tin whisker induced failures.
BL> And people will die, make no mistake about that.
BL> Bob Landman
BL> Life Senior Member, IEEE
BL> President, CTO
BL> H&L Instruments,LLC
BL>
BL> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/28/AR20
BL> 10012803971.html?wpisrc=nl_pmheadline
BL> Toyota did not install brake override systems despite complaints
BL> By Peter Whoriskey
BL> Washington Post Staff Writer
BL> Friday, January 29, 2010; A16
BL> Toyota Motor began facing complaints of runaway cars years ago, but
BL> the company did not install "brake override" systems in those
BL> vehicles, even as several other automakers deployed the technology to
address such malfunctions.
BL> The brake override systems allow a driver to stop a car with the
BL> footbrake even if the accelerator is depressed and the vehicle is
BL> running at full throttle. The systems are an outgrowth of new
BL> electronics in cars, specifically in engine control.
BL> "If the brake and the accelerator are in an argument, the brake
BL> wins," a spokesman at Chrysler said in describing the systems, which
BL> it began installing in 2003.
BL> Volkswagen, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz also install such systems in
BL> at least some of their cars, the companies and industry experts
BL> said, some as far back as 10 years ago. General Motors installs
BL> brake override in all of its cars in which it is possible for the
BL> engine at full throttle to overwhelm the brakes.
BL> "Most other automakers have adopted this technology," said Sean
BL> Kane, a former researcher at the Center for Auto Safety who now
BL> works at Safety Research and Strategies. Not adding the systems "is
BL> one of the mistakes that created this perfect storm for Toyota."
BL> Toyota did not respond Thursday to questions about its decisions involving
brake override.
BL> But at the Detroit Auto Show in December, Toyota North America
BL> President Yoshi Inaba said the company would begin equipping its
BL> vehicles with brake override. His comments followed a November
BL> statement from the company that the override system would be made
BL> standard on Toyota and Lexus vehicles starting with some models in January
2010.
BL> The precaution comes too late, however, to forestall a tsunami of
BL> negative publicity that has engulfed the company since it halted
BL> production and suspended sales of eight popular models after reports
BL> of unintended acceleration. For a company that famously aimed to
BL> become the largest automaker in the world by touting a reputation
BL> for reliability and safety, it has been a striking turnaround.
BL> The company has blamed the accelerations on faulty floor mats and
BL> their installation, as well as defective accelerator pedals, which
BL> they are seeking to redesign. The brake override systems, when they
BL> come, will provide a measure of redundancy.
BL> It was not immediately clear how much it would cost to install the
BL> brake override systems, and industry experts said the costs of the
BL> control technology are difficult to measure.
BL> "There's really no cost, but it's a critical skill issue -- we can
BL> only find so many people who can do this kind of work," said a
BL> senior engineer at a major automaker, who spoke on the condition of
BL> anonymity. "It would require a bunch of software and development
BL> people to design it, but spread across lots of cars, the money
BL> involved would be negligible. . . . No one wants a runaway."
BL> As far back as 2004, government investigators were looking at
BL> 2002-2003 Toyota Camrys and Solaras and Lexus ES 300s to determine
BL> whether they were defective, gathering information about 37 owner
BL> complaints of sudden acceleration, according to the Center for Auto Safety.
BL> Automotive experts said that in at least some of those incidents, a
BL> brake override system could have prevented harm.
BL> In the accident that has drawn perhaps the most publicity, a 2009
BL> Lexus ES 350 raced through San Diego, weaving at 120 miles an hour
BL> through rush-hour freeway traffic. Veteran California Highway Patrol
BL> officer Mark Saylor was at the wheel, with his wife, teenage
BL> daughter and brother-in-law aboard.
BL> "We're in trouble. . . . There's no brakes," Saylor's brother-in-law
BL> told a police dispatcher over a cellphone. As they approached an
BL> intersection, and the end of the road, the passengers could be heard
BL> urging each other to pray. All four died.
BL> Afterward, investigators said that it appeared the brakes had been
BL> applied for so long that the brake pads melted, according to a
BL> report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
BL> Had a brake override system been at work, the engine would have been
BL> depowered -- not turned off, but slowed.
BL> Until recently, an accelerator pedal opened the throttle
BL> mechanically. But newer pedals control the engine via sensors and a
computer.
BL> The new throttle electronics and software have often themselves been
BL> the focus of some suspicion in the runaway crashes.
BL> Whatever the causes of accidents, engineers noted that there are
BL> trade-offs in using brake override systems. For example, some
BL> customers prefer to be able to apply the brake and step on the
BL> accelerator without reducing power to the engine, especially in
high-performance driving.
BL> Toyota, moreover, is not the only automaker to eschew the fail-safe
technology.
BL> In an e-mail, Honda spokeswoman Christina Ra said that "Honda and
BL> Acura vehicles do not apply any override logic between brake and
BL> accelerator pedal inputs. . . . We continue to accept application of
BL> the accelerator and brake pedals as representing the driver's intention."
BL> But experts said that the value of the brake override systems is
BL> that they can mitigate acceleration problems no matter where they
BL> come from. Toyota, as well as the NHTSA, appear to have struggled in
BL> diagnosing exactly what is causing the trouble.
BL> "A brake override system can paper over a multitude of mistakes," Kane said.
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--
Best regards,
Steve mailto:steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.consultingscientist.us
http://www.pickensplan.com/
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